New Weapon X
by vevans
Summary: The Weapon X program has been re-established, however there has been a change in management and they are doing things a little differently now...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A combination of the moonlight streaming down on her face and the realisation that the earth beneath her was damp and freezing cold caused Lily to wake with a start. She jumped up with lightning reflexes as she took in her surroundings. The woods she found herself in were covered with a light dusting of snow making everything shine in the moonlight and a nearby lake lit up her immediate area with the reflection of the moon. What worried Lily however was not her location, it was the fact that her senses were on overload. She was able to smell all the different earthy scents permeating the air. An owl was located in a tree to her left and if she slightly tilted her head towards the lake, she could hear the minute ripples in the water. She followed her nose as she instinctively began to track the strong scent of large mammal that had passed through her location recently. Her stealth and heightened senses allowed her to track down the giant brown bear that was currently scratching itself on a nearby tree. All of a sudden instinct took over, and Lily found herself sprinting towards the creature. Through no conscious recognition, Lily clenched her hands into fists and three 10-inch metal claws popped out from between each of her knuckles on her hands. The unexpected expulsion of the claws caused Lily to stop dead in her tracks and stare down at the gleaming metal objects. Unfortunately, this sudden stop in momentum alerted the brown bear to her presence and it reared up on its back legs to reveal its massive 9ft height. The roar of the bear snapped Lily out of her daze and she looked up to see a set of claws swiping down at her. The swipe hit her right across her chest and she fell back a couple steps in shock. Looking down at her top she saw blood begin to spread across her chest and the thoughts of this being how she would die flashed across her mind. But just as she began to accept her fate, the blood stopped spreading and a strange tightness was felt. She reached down her top to see the gashes inflicted by the bear disappearing before her very eyes. As the shock subsided, a burning rage took its place and her vision turned red as she leapt forward towards the bear once more. Metal claws extended again, she lashed out at the bear in a blind fury. She continued to thrash the bear as blood burst over her face and clothing and it wasn't until a new scent, mixed in with the stench of blood and guts, pervaded the air and made her stop and look up.

Staring across at Lily through the snow-swept trees was a short, muscly man in a yellow and blue outfit. She had no idea why, but the man was somehow familiar to her and she leapt off the now very dead bear, claws still extended, and began to slowly close the distance between them. Confusion and apprehension wafted from the man as the bloody girl slowly walked over. The man reached up to his face and removed the hood of his outfit to reveal dark penetrating eyes and strange facial hair. He too began to close the distance between the two of them, however when they were mere metres apart, the bloody girl collapsed to the ground. The man looked around in a panic trying to find any source that may have caused this young girl to pass out and found the concerned face of his teammate with her hand to her temple, flowing red hair streaming down her back. Being explanation enough, he closed the remaining distance between himself and the girl and picked her up, carrying her back to the safety of his transport and teammates.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lily woke to the smell of strong disinfectant and a persistent beeping noise. She peered open her eyes to find herself in some sort of strange hospital where she seemed to be the only patient. The other beds around her were empty but a chair to her right was occupied by a sleeping man with a cowboy hat tilted over his face. He was wearing a red flannel shirt, jeans and boots that all looked like were very worn in. As Lily took in her new environment, she began to slowly and quietly creep out of the bed so that she could find an exit to this place. She was wearing a backless medical gown, with long, warm socks that did not belong to her. The strong chemical smell was burning her nose and she needed fresh air, to get out. However, her sneak escape did not go smoothly as during her exit she tripped over one of the many leads still connected to her body which alerted the monitoring machine to beep wildly.

As a result, the sleeping man woke from his chair and jumped up to alleviate the situation. Lily reacted instantly with a deep growl emanating from her chest as she backed herself against the wall, claws popped out, and crouching in a defensive manner. She surprised even herself by the sound she was emanating, however the terror for the situation she found herself in held strong enough that she continued to growl at her potential attacker.

"Woah, woah. It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you", said the man, showing his palms up.

"Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?", demanded Lily instantly, still crouched.

"My name is Logan", he replied, "and this is just a school, no one is going to hurt you here".

"What am I doing here? I need to get out", Lily retorted, making her way against the wall to the door.

In unison, Logan began to also make his way to the door, although in an attempt to block Lily's clear line of exit. This elicited another deep growl from the young woman who ceased her movements to try and find an alternative route.

"Hang on, darling. Don't run out on us yet, we just wanna help you, maybe ask some questions and help answer some in return. You do have questions, don't you?", Logan queried.

While this did cause Lily to straighten up a little bit, she said nothing and glared at Logan.

"Fine, I'll start then," he surmised, gaining no additional information, "Firstly, what's your name? How old are you?"

Lily was not keen to answer any of this short man's questions and she mistrusted him deeply. However, her nose told another story as she could smell nothing but concern and a little fear seeping her way.

Hesitantly, she replied, "I'm Lily, and I'm 17."

"Okay, Lily, nice to meet you. As I said my name's Logan and so now that we both know each other, do you mind putting those claws away for the time being?"

Again, Lily was reluctant to do anything that might jeopardise her safety, however with Logan still seeping smells of honesty, she slowly retracted her claws, as he too lowered his still raised palms.

"Where am I then? What did you do to me?", she demanded now, wanting answers to the millions of questions running around her mind.

"Like I said, you're at school right now, Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. You are safe here. Trust me. And we didn't do anything to you, I promise"

"Who's we?", Lily asked just as a tall red-headed woman came running into the room.

Her arrival sparked another defensive growl, and claws popped out once again.

Jean immediately stopped by the frame of the door at the site of the situation in front of her. She looked to Logan for answers but only received a look that said, 'remain calm'.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. This is Jean, Jean this is Lily. Jean's a doctor and is a part of the 'we' that I mentioned. She's only here because she thought you might have been in trouble… on account of all the beeping. Isn't that right Jean?" Logan replied, looking at Jean with expectation.

"Yes, of course. I just heard that the monitors were signalling and thought something might have happened".

Lily looked between Logan and Jean, sensing their reactions and scents before she straightened up.

"Well can someone please answer, what the hell happened to me then?!" Lily screamed, looking in desperation at the two adults standing before her.

"We don't quite understand, Lily. What did happen to you?" Jean finally asked, unable to find a suitable response.

"THESE are what happened to me!" Lily replied, showing them up to Logan and Jean who shared a quick look between them. "I have no idea where these came from! And why can I smell EVERYTHING? And it's so loud! Why is it so loud? I need to get out of here!" Lily began hyperventilating and crouched down on the floor.

"Okay, Lily, it's going to be okay," Logan replied walking towards her, "We need you to calm down and put the claws away right now. We will help you, but first you need to put the claws away."

"I can't," she explained instantly, "They're not going back, I can't make them go back!"

"It's alright, you can do this, just take a deep breath and focus."

Lily looked up at Logan and took a shaky breath before exclaiming, "It's not working! I can't make them go back!", she had now broken into tears.

"Hey, Lily, look at me. You CAN do this, I know you can, try again. Big breath. Breathe with me now".

Together, Lily and Logan took a breath and the claws sheathed themselves slowly.

In exhaustion and terror, Lily broke down crying.

"What did they do to me?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lily and Logan sat outside on a stone bench on the outside of the woods, a little away from the glowing lights of the 'school'. The stars still twinkled up above.

 _Finally, some fresh air,_ thought Lily, still taking slow deep breaths to keep herself calm, her head resting on her hands in her lap.

Beside her, Logan sat carefully, watching the young girl's breathing, unsure whether to start up conversation again.

From the hospital room, Jean had managed to find a small set of grey tracksuit pants and a jacket, with an embroidered 'X' on the chest, that would fit Lily, along with a spare pair of trainers. She had also been able to untangle her brown, pixie-like hair and wipe some of the dirt off of her face and body. She still craved a shower though. During her breathing exercises, Lily could smell Logan's apprehension and while she was still confused as to how all of her senses could operate to this heightened level, she was just bringing herself under control again and so was unwilling to get back into the gritty detail of it all.

Meanwhile, she focused on the sounds and smells she could sense beyond, reaching out in the grounds that lay behind her stone bench. There was scuffling of nocturnal creatures running about the trees and shrubs. Lily took one last deep breath before turning and looking up at Logan.

"Alright, I'm going to tell you everything I know, and then I want the same from you please," she stated very matter-of-factly. Logan did not want to deter her, and so simply nodded.

Lily began, staring back at the lights of the school, "I don't remember much. I have no idea how I got to those woods you found me in, or even what the date or time is right now. All I know is that I woke up, and everything was just turned up to 11, all of my senses are on fire, and I can't concentrate! Also my emotions are just a mess! Like earlier tonight, one minute I was listening to the river and then I just started running, following a smell I had no idea why I wanted to follow. It felt like I lost myself, lost control. These urges to attack, like that bear… I didn't want to kill it, but it attacked me and I just lost control. All I could see was red and then… once I started, I didn't want to stop… it felt good."

She stopped momentarily, to check Logan's reactions. He looked back passively, saying nothing, allowing her to continue.

"But before any of what happened tonight, I can't remember. I see glimpses or even senses of familiarity when I think of my family, because I must have a family right? But I can't remember them! I don't know if I had siblings or a mum, or just a dad or anything but I _feel_ like I did. I just can't grab on to that feeling long enough for it to make any sense!"

"But most of all, I have no idea how I got these things in my arms," she continued, rubbing the tops of her knuckles on her hands.

"I know my name is Lily, I know that. That I'm 17 years old, the 20th of September, 1995 is my birthday. That I know, but why? Why can I remember that but not my family for God's sake!? And what do I do now? How do I live like this? I swear this wasn't what my life was like before, this is all very new to me and I don't know what to do…" she trailed off, looking down at her feet.

After not saying anything for a couple of seconds, Logan decided to start with the simple stuff.

"Well just so you know, it's about half past five in the morning, and the date is May, 2018. As for the rest of it, we have a professor here, Charles Xavier, the guy this fancy school is named after, who might be able to help you a bit more. He's a telepath, like someone who can read minds," he explained when Lily gave him a confused look.

"But he's the strongest telepath in the world so he will help you. That's what we do here, we help people like us… people who are mutants."

"Mutants…" Lily murmured to herself. She'd never associated the word with herself before, which she thought was strange. Her lack of memory beyond the events of the night may have explained that, but for some reason she felt the concept of being a mutant was very new to her, and she was unable to explain why.

Logan continued, "I don't have all the answers for you kid, at least not yet, but I'm gonna try help you as much as I can. You see I'm in a pretty similar situation myself, there's something going on here, between you… and me," he finished, looking at Lily directly.

"What do you mean? Something between us?" she queried.

"Well, I'm not sure if you remember, but before, when we were in the woods, did I seem familiar at all? I mean, do you remember starting to walk towards me? I don't know about you but I definitely sensed something"

"I kind of remember that," Lily replied, thinking hard about the events preceding her blackout, "But I still don't really know what you mean? Are we related or something?"

"I don't think so," Logan replied, "But I can't be certain for sure. We do have a lot in common though and we need the professor to help us figure this out", he continued, starting to get to his feet to walk inside.

"Hang on!" Lily exclaimed grabbing at his arm, "What do you mean, what do we have in common? You have to tell me!"

"This really isn't the best place for this," Logan retorted, "And I've probably said too much already."

"No! Please! Just tell me what you mean… please?"

Logan looked back at the mansion, lights glaring, wondering if it was too early still to talk to the professor again, then looked back at Lily, still sitting on the bench, staring up at him in desperation.

He took a deep breath and throwing caution to the wind, he gave in.

"Fine, okay, but it's not really something I can tell you, it's more something I need to show you"

Looking slightly more confused, Lily watched Logan take a step back from her, and took another deep breath.

She heard a sound then, a sound she had come to fear and anxiety welled up inside her. The familiar SNIKT sound caused her to instantly recoil from Logan as she stared down at the gleaming metal claws protruding from his knuckles.


	4. Chapter 4

"No, what?", confused, Lily stood up and stared at the claws glinting back at her.

"What's going on? How can this be?", her voice rising in anger.

"I have no idea", Logan answered quietly.

"Did you have something to do with this? Did you do this to me?" Lily started yelling.

"No! Absolutely not! I want answers as much as you do!" Logan replied, sheathing his claws, taking a cautious step towards Lily.

"Then what the FUCK is going on?!" Lily demanded, stepping away from Logan to start pacing in the gardens. She began shaking and her breathing became ragged as she worked herself up.

Logan, recognising the signs of rage, took another cautious step in her direction.

"Lily, you have to calm down, we're gonna figure this out, but first you need to control yourself."

Lily looked towards him with pure menace in her eyes and lunged.

Her claws barely scratched his chest, slightly tearing his flannel shirt, as he manoeuvred expertly out her way. He was surprised that she had the agility to even get that close to him, but his years of experience allowed him to quickly subdue the young girl by getting behind her and crossing her arms across her chest, holding her by her wrists.

She struggled against his strong position, and actually managed to break free by headbutting him and yanking out of his grip, using the element of surprise to launch another attack. Logan was astounded at the skill she had just displayed and questioned how she could possibly have attained the knowledge to be able to escape from his vice grip. Lily's second attack was more focused as she used her speed to her advantage, feinting one way before attacking in the opposite direction. Logan was just able to keep up, not wanting to pop his own claws to defend himself. They continued to spar, Lily making little contact as they traded movements.

Logan tried to reason again, "Lily I'm not going to hurt you. You need to understand that I had nothing to do with this! You need to stop."

"Liar!" she screamed, attempting again to stab the cause of her problems once more. Her vision had once again turned red, just like with in the incident with the bear, however this time, she was using her rage to fuel her instead of fighting against it. She found she was able to maintain her agility and sharp reflexes despite being blocked again and again. How was she was able to do this quickly crossed her mind before it exited again as her tirade continued.

"You know I'm not lying", Logan calmly replied, "If you can smell as well as you say you can, then you know I'm being honest."

This caused Lily to stop for a second and stare and Logan, panting. She refused to believe him, but again, she couldn't deny her nose, the new sense she had come to rely so heavily on.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Lily said, resignation tainting her words, claws retracting once more.

"We figure this out together, trust me" Logan responded, sticking out his hand.

Lily, still panting, searched his eyes, trying to find a solution. She stared down at his hand and after hesitating a moment, she shook it, the anger and red vision dissipating in this action.

"Well then, I reckon it's time we check on the Professor then," Logan reckoned, looking at the sky to see the pink and orange hues of sun creeping over the horizon.

He led her back through the giant, oak double doors into a large entryway. Two set of stairs hugged the walls on either side of the doors to lead up to a second floor with a balcony overlooking the entryway. Through the middle of the two stairs was another hallway where she had come from earlier, she knew if she followed some stairs down that hallway, she would find her way back to the infirmary. However, instead of following the corridor down to the end and descending the staircase to reach her hospital bed, they stopped at the first door on the right. The large wooden door was still closed but Logan didn't hesitate at all as he opened it up, standing back to allow Lily to enter through the doorway first. She was surprised to find a few lamps were on and a fire was crackling softly in a large fireplace, decorated with a large marble mantlepiece. Most of the walls were actually shelves teeming with books and centred in the middle of the room were a few soft-leathered, maroon armchairs. Sitting in one of these armchairs was an old man with a very bald head. A wheelchair sat close to the armchair. He didn't look up as they walked in and Logan gently closed the door behind him, but sat with his eyes closed.

"How have you been going with this Professor" asked Logan, as the old man finally addressed his visitors.

"It is early days Logan, and so my answers are limited. However, I have just come to a realisation that I will share with you soon. But first, let me introduce myself."

Turning and now facing Lily, the Professor exclaimed, "My name is Professor Charles Xavier, and you must be Lily." He nodded his head courteously and smiled warmly.

Lily could only feel comfortable in his presence. She walked toward him to shake his outstretched hand and smiled back, realising it was the first time she had smiled since waking up in the woods.

"Hi there" she replied, not really sure what to say.

"So what have you got for us Chuck?" asked Logan, seating himself down in one of the other plush armchairs, wanting to move the conversation along.

"Lily please take a seat as well. It is best you are comfortable," he began and Lily too, seated herself in the large armchair.

The fire crackled on, giving a subtle soundtrack to the conversation. Charles stared into a moment longer before he began again.

"Lily," he started, staring deeply into her eyes.

"As Logan has recently told you, I am a telepath, one of the strongest there is in the world. I tell you this not to boast, but to give you an idea of my capabilities and what I am prepared to do to help you find your answers. Consequentially, it was of little trouble for me to overhear that you said you were 17 years old. Is that correct? Born the 20th of September, 1995?"

"Yes…. That's right" Lily answered, not sure what this had to do with anything.

"Well, due to the circumstances you have found yourself in tonight, it did not surprise me when Logan revealed today's date, you did realise the gravity of the situation. The year is 2018, and if you were born in 1995 as you say, by this year, you will be 23 years old, not 17," explained Charles.

Lily didn't say anything for a little while. Staring first from the Professor, to Logan (who looked back at her warily), and then to the fire. Multiple emotions were streaming through her mind. Confusion, sadness, worry, anger. As she processed each of these, she could feel both pairs of eyes on her, waiting for her response. Not wanting another breakdown, Lily took slow, deep breaths to ensure she had a hold of herself before she replied.

"How can that be?" is all she managed to let out. She didn't look up from the fire, as she found that the dancing flames had a somewhat calming effect and did not want to risk looking away from them.

Hesitantly, Charles explained his theory.

"Well, I can only surmise at this stage, that with your experienced memory loss, you were 17 years old at the time of your abduction and ultimate transformation."

At this news, both Logan and Lily looked up at him with alarm.

"What are you talking about?"

It was Logan who had asked as Lily found herself stunned, searching the Professor's face for some sort of deviant behaviour, but only found sincerity and honesty.

"It brings me no pleasure in delivering this news to you Lily, but when we brought you back to our infirmary this morning, we gave you a quick work up to see if you needed any immediate medical attention. During this process, we took some blood, as is routine. As a part of our school medical protocols, we check for the X gene. It may or may not come as a surprise to you, but you are X positive."

"Why would that be a surprise that the kid is X positive?" Logan asked again, "We all saw her claws pop in and out again. I don't know many humans that can do that."

Lily agreed with Logan. Of course her recent behaviour was definitely that of a mutant. Although the thought of being a mutant did still feel weird to her. Could this be why the Professor thought she might be surprised?

"Well Logan, we can undoubtably say that Lily is indeed a mutant, now. But she was not always one. Lily was born completely and 100% human."

Lily continued to stare at the Professor for a little while longer before turning back towards the fire, mind whirring at a 100 miles and minute. As absurd as what the Professor was saying, it did make sense to her. This unfamiliarity with her own mutant being. Her senses of her past life, brief memories of a family.

Finally she spoke, "How do you know this?"

Both Logan and the Professor were somewhat shocked by her demeanour, the calmness she was expressing. Logan could hear her slow heartbeat, her steady breathing.

"The blood test did indeed test positive for the X-gene, but not the same X-gene that could be found in myself or Logan here. The gene detected in your blood, Lily", she looked up at him now, "was manufactured."

"I believe it was conducted by isolating the gene from a mutant's blood, then morphing it with an extremely aggressive virus. The X-gene is then incorporated into the virus's own genetic makeup and was introduced into your own bloodstream. The virus then goes on to do what virus's do, taking over the organism's healthy cells, and creating its own."

"The reason you thought you were still 17 years old, Lily. The disparity in your time I believe, was due to the fact that the virus would need an incredibly long time to overtake a whole human being's genetic code and replace it with its own mutant hybrid. This process, I believe, would take anywhere up to four years if current research on animal models give us any indication. I'm extrapolating of course to apply this theory to a human being as of course, nothing like this has ever been conducted before. As a result, my own theories can explain only so much. However, I do believe I can extend our thinking just a little bit further."

Logan was shocked and furious that such an experiment could have been conducted on a then, 17 year old girl. He looked across at her, listening carefully again. Her heartbeat had risen slightly, her calm façade slightly dropping as the reality of what the Professor had just proposed hit her. She continued to stare in to the fire, but her eyes began searching the flames now, looking where she could for more explanations.

Realising that she would not speak up yet, Logan asked the question he knew Lily was thinking.

"So Chuck, you say you know the gene was forged and mixed with a mutant's DNA. Do you know which mutant?"

Logan asked the question already knowing the answer but still vocalising it for his own sake and the sake of Lily.

Charles turned from Lily to Logan. He knew they both knew the answer, and he did not want to reveal his final suspicions. However, sensing the need to reach his final point, he looked sadly at Logan, and proclaimed, "It was yours Logan. And what's more, I believe that the people that did this to Lily are known to you Logan. Your experiences are very similar. They had your blood Logan. The people who took Lily, who experimented on her, are the very same who did it to you."

"The Weapon X program is back."


End file.
